Taste Your Beating Heart
by IntrovertNightOwl
Summary: "So spill, dude," Stiles said, "what's the big mystery? Why would the alpha be possibly interested in little old moi? Lowly human that I am." Stiles had somehow recovered his speech and his propensity for sarcasm. Derek wouldn't look at him and kept staring at the floor, not saying anything. "Come on, Derek, I haven't got all day," Stiles demanded.
**Taste Your Beating Heart**

Stiles' heart was pounding fiercely in his chest while he was running through the forest. It was pitch black in the woods, Stiles could hardly see anything. He was driven by fear and the will to survive. He was still unsure how he had managed to escape from the alpha and why the alpha hadn't caught up with him yet. Yes, Stiles had had a head start but he knew from Scott, Peter, Derek and his pack how fast werewolves were. "Where the hell is the sourwolf when I need him?" Stiles thought while trying not to trip over tree roots. "I saved him plenty of times, couldn't he do the same thing for me for once?" Stiles knew he was being unreasonable, how should Derek know after all that he was in mortal danger, werewolf senses notwithstanding? But he was tired, scared and grumpy so he felt entitled to some whining, even if it was only inside his head. Suddenly, he heard the scariest howl ever. The alpha was closing in on him and he seemed to want to communicate that fact to the rest of his pack. Stiles had no idea why the alpha was after him anyway. Maybe he smelled Scott, Peter, Derek and the rest of the pack on Stiles because they hung out all the time and decided to turn Stiles to piss off the other werewolves, especially Derek as the alpha. Stiles shivered at that idea, both from fear and excitement. Yes, he had turned down the bite when Peter had offered it to him, but lately he was starting to think that might have been a mistake. Nearly all of his friends were supernatural creatures now and he started to feel a bit left out as a mere human. But then he thought about the fact that the bite either turned you or killed you and decided being a lowly human might not be so bad after all.

The alpha howled again, this time much closer. Stiles tried running even faster but he was really getting tired now. The leaves of the trees rustled and when he glanced back he saw glowing red eyes in the distance. "Damn," Stiles thought, "this is it, I'm gonna die. And I haven't even had sex yet," he thought mournfully. Plus his dad would be so devastated. Thinking about his father gave Stiles some new strength and he pushed himself even harder but the alpha kept gaining on him. Just when he thought the alpha was gonna catch up with him and bite him, a furry black shape came flying out of the trees to his left and tackled the alpha. The newcomer was obviously a werewolf as well since he growled loudly and held his own against the alpha. Stiles had stopped running and was panting, trying to get his breath under control. It took Stiles a second to figure out that it was Derek who was fighting the other alpha. "So." he thought gratefully, "the sourwolf came to my rescue after all." Between exchanging blows and bites with the other alpha, Derek briefly looked at Stiles and screamed "Run!" Stiles did not need to be told twice.

Stiles somehow made it back to his house in one piece. "Yay for Team Stiles," he thought. He glanced at the dark house. He had forgotten that his dad had the night shift, he really would have preferred not to be alone tonight after everything that just happened. He should call or text Scott and tell him to come over, but all of a sudden he was so tired that all he could do was drag himself inside. He should take a shower, he smelled ripe from all the running, but he didn't have the energy so he just fell down on his bed, trying to get some rest. "I hope Derek is okay," was the last thing that went through his mind before he passed out from exhaustion.

Stiles woke with a start. He glanced around his still dark room and grabbed groggily for his phone. 5am, way too early to get up, especially on a Saturday. So why was he awake? Something had disturbed him in his sleep, something was different. He looked around the room again and nearly fell out of his bed from shock when he saw Derek sitting on his desk chair.

"What are you doing here, Derek?" Stiles asked. "Are you okay? Did the other alpha hurt you badly? Do you need me to drive you to the veterinary clinic? Should I call Scott? Or someone of your pack?" Stiles knew he was babbling but he couldn't stop himself. He was suddenly very worried.

"Stiles, calm down," Derek said while rolling his eyes at the younger boy's rambling and came closer to the bed so that Stiles could see him. He looked all right, a few scrapes and bites but nothing that looked lethal.

"I'm okay, more or less," Derek said. "I managed to fight the other alpha off for a little while and then I ran like hell. He was very strong, stronger than me." Derek frowned, obviously not liking to admit that fact.

"So why are you here then?" Stiles asked.

"I just wanted to make sure you got home okay," Derek stated as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You what?"

Stiles was completely thrown. He didn't think that Derek cared about him at all, thought of him as a pain in the ass and here he was showing concern for him.

"Yeah well, it was sorta my fault that the alpha went after you in the first place," Derek said with a guilty expression on his face.

"Well, I always knew that hanging around werewolves couldn't be good for my health. You guys and your super sense of smell and all," Stiles said sarcastically. "I mean, that's why the alpha went after me, right? He smelled you, Scott, Peter and the rest of the pack on me and decided to get his kicks by hunting me down and turning me."

"Actually," Derek said contritely, "he didn't want to turn you, he wanted to kill you."

"WHAT?" Stiles yelled. "Why would he want to do that? I mean, I know the alpha pack is evil, but why did this alpha single _me_ out to kill?" Stiles glared at Derek.

A look of unease and shame flitted across Derek's face but he didn't say anything.

"Answer me, Derek. Why me? You look like you know why, but as usual you are holding something back," Stiles said angrily. He grabbed Derek's arm and started shaking him. "Tell me!"

"Stiles, I cannot tell you, it's complicated and you are not gonna like the answer anyway," Derek replied, trying to shake off Stiles' hand.

"Well, I'm not liking you being an evasive dick either," Stiles retorted. "If you are not gonna tell me the truth, then get out of here."

Derek looked at him with something akin to regret and then nodded his head.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly and jumped out of the window.

"Good riddance," Stiles thought while rolling his eyes, he had had enough of the sourwolf lying to him for one night. If he was really honest with himself, it hurt that Derek didn't feel that he could confide in him. Given Derek's trust issues, it was not really that surprising but it still hurt. "But he won't get away with this," Stiles thought and decided to pump Derek for information tomorrow (or rather later on today). He was just going to be his quirky, charming, annoyingly persistent self so that Derek would have no choice but to give in and tell him the truth. The thought of pestering Derek made him smile and he fell back asleep quickly.

The sun was already high in the sky when Stiles woke up again a few hours later. He got up quietly, trying not to wake his dad who was recovering from his night shift. Stiles took a much needed shower as he still smelled ripe. As he felt the warm water running down his back and loosening the knots of tension in his shoulders, he relived last night's events in his mind. As he recalled Derek being in his bedroom and his look of concern (Stiles could still not get over that), he suddenly and very unexpectantly felt himself getting hard. He looked down at his dick in disbelief. Okay, so yes, he had fantasized about guys before and sometimes jerked off to images of particularly hot men. But why would he get a boner thinking about surly Derek Hale who had no sense of humor whatsoever? Stiles was flabbergasted. Sure, Derek was very handsome and those abs were pretty drool-worthy, but Stiles hadn't even been thinking about that. This was definitely confusing. Great, now he couldn't get the picture of Derek's abs out of his head and got even harder. He grabbed his cock and slowly started stroking it, still thinking of Derek, of what it would feel like to see Derek naked, of what Derek could do to him, of what Stiles wanted to do to Derek, such as falling on his knees in front of him and sucking him off, he must taste so great. The images in his head made him moan loudly. Stiles kept pumping and picturing Derek kissing him and nibbling on his neck, and it didn't take long at all before he came with Derek's name on his lips. The warm water of the shower washed away his sperm, and Stiles leant on the shower wall for a minute, breathing hard. "Okay, that was just plain weird," Stiles thought. Why would the thought of Derek freaking Hale get him so aroused and make him come so hard? Maybe going to question him some more today wasn't such a good idea after all. Stiles sighed. "Naw, it may be uncomfortable but I'm not letting him get away with always lying to me," Stiles thought. His mind made up, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.

Stiles was singing along loudly to the radio while driving to Derek's place. The sun was warming his face and he felt good, despite (or maybe because of?) his little shower interlude. As he was cruising down the road, he started formulating a plan for getting the truth out of Derek about the alpha's apparent desire to kill him. He would just fire off question after question, he would keep talking and rambling and drive Derek mad. "Hey, it has worked before," Stiles thought slyly. As he reached the Hale house though, into which Derek, Peter and the pack had moved a few weeks ago, he started getting nervous. He was about to see Derek when only a little while ago he had fantasized about the werewolf and jerked off while thinking about him. This had the potential to be awkward. Stiles tried to calm down and get a grip on his confusing emotions. He took deep, steading breaths.

When he felt that he had himself under control, he stepped out of the car and walked up to the house. His fingers shook slightly as he lifted his hand to knock on the door. "Easy, Stiles," he told himself firmly. The door opened and there Derek stood, looking even sexier and more handsome than in his imagination. Stiles was suddenly shy and nervous all over again.

"What do you want, Stiles?" Derek asked him in an exasperated tone. Stiles' mouth was dry, he couldn't get a word out. Hadn't the plan been to talk Derek to death? "Nice going, Stiles," he thought to himself sarcastically.

"Well?" Derek barked, getting impatient. Stiles cleared his throat and quietly said, feeling quite unlike himself, "I wanted to talk to you about last night. I know you are hiding something about why the alpha wanted to kill me and I want to know what it is."

Stiles anxiously looked up at Derek, expecting the usual mix of anger and annoyance in Derek's green eyes but to his surprise he only found a deep unease there.

"Please, Derek, tell me."

Maybe sincere begging would be the better option. Derek looked torn, he was obviously wavering whether he should tell Stiles the truth or not. Suddenly he seemed to make up his mind.

"Okay," Derek said with a sigh, holding the door open to Stiles. "Come in. We need to talk."

Stiles hastily followed Derek inside. Derek walked through the foyer of the newly renovated house into the living room and sat on the couch. He motioned for Stiles to sit down next to him so he did.

"So spill, dude," Stiles said, "what's the big mystery? Why would the alpha be possibly interested in little old moi? Lowly human that I am."

Stiles had somehow recovered his speech and his propensity for sarcasm. Derek wouldn't look at him and kept staring at the floor, not saying anything.

"Come on, Derek, I haven't got all day," Stiles demanded.

Actually he didn't have any plans that particular Saturday, but he wanted to get this conversation going and not give a certain werewolf the opportunity to wiggle out of this. Derek finally glanced at him with his usual annoyed expression.

"Fine," he growled, "you really wanna know why the alpha wants to kill you? It's because you are my mate."

"I'm your WHAT?" Stiles was completely thrown and totally confused.

"I told you, you wouldn't like the answer," Derek replied testily.

Stiles was pacing around the living room, while Derek looked on with a worried expression. Even though he had taken his Adderall after breakfast, Stiles' ADHD was out in full force. But then again, Derek's revelation that they were mated was bound to cause a lot of tension, anxiety and excitement that not even his powerful medication could combat. Stiles' mind was racing. What did it all mean? Could he possibly start a relationship with Derek? And for life? Yes, he was attracted to Derek and he had long before come to terms with the fact that he was gay, but there was still so much he didn't know about the growly werewolf, seeing that Derek usually was like a closed book and wasn't fond of sharing his thoughts, let alone his emotions. As Derek had explained to him, for werewolves being mated meant being a couple for life. Stiles was feeling completely overwhelmed. He had always thought that Derek couldn't stand him or was at the very least annoyed by him and now he was proposing a lifelong relationship akin to marriage.

"But," Stiles finally blurted out, "we don't even know each other that well. How can we be mates?"

"Well," Derek replied quietly, "it doesn't have to happen today. It is your choice really when and if you want to become my mate. For me, it's fate. I cannot change the fact that all my werewolf senses tell me that you are my mate."

"But do you want me to be your mate?" Stiles asked.

"Yes I do," Derek replied in such a sincere tone of voice that Stiles immediately believed him.

"But why?"

Stiles couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. Why would gorgeous Derek Hale want to be with him for life?

"Because I want you like crazy and you bring up feelings in me that I thought long lost and buried." Derek said nervously, not meeting astonished Stiles' eyes. Derek kept talking quickly: "I felt the pull towards you the very first time we met. I tried to repress it, put you out of my mind but it didn't work. The more time we spent together, the more obsessed I became. And you kept saving my life, making my feelings for you even deeper. I have never felt like this about anyone before, not even Kate. All my senses tell me that you are the one, the one person who could make me happy, the one that I could make happy. The way you smell, the way you look, your intelligence, your sense of humor, your body, everything about you appeals to me and touches me in my core." Derek took a deep breath.

Stiles was flabbergasted, he had never heard Derek talk so much and so openly before. For once Stiles was speechless. Derek's words touched him deeply and he felt his heart twist. He remained silent and just stared at Derek.

"Stiles, please say something," Derek pleaded, looking anxious.

"Give me a minute here, Derek. It's not every day that a guy pours out his heart to me like that," Stiles joked weakly.

Derek's face darkened.

"Is that the problem then? That I'm a guy? I can totally understand if that's the case. If you are not into guys, I mean."

"Whoa, hey, who said anything about that? No, I happen to be into guys, I just never thought you would be." Stiles said in a placating manner.

Derek's face brightened and he looked Stiles in the eyes. The love (and lust) Stiles saw in his beautiful green eyes took his breath away.

"I'm very attracted to you as well, Derek," Stiles said with a tremor in his voice, "I just don't know that I'm ready for a lifelong commitment. I would like to get to know you first, if that's all right."

Derek grinned. "Of course that's all right, Stiles. I'd like to get to know you better as well."

Derek moved closer to Stiles, who had finally stopped his pacing and suddenly stood stock still. As Derek lightly caressed his face, Stiles felt his mouth go dry. "Oh my God, it is finally happening, I will finally get kissed. And by Derek Hale no less!" His heart was hammering in his chest and his breath came faster. Derek leaned in and brought their lips together, uniting them in a very soft and sweet kiss. Stiles grabbed Derek's head, put his hands in his hair and pulled him closer. Derek deepened the kiss, making it rougher and more passionate, and pushed his tongue inside Stiles' mouth, which went straight to Stiles' cock. Stiles in turn put his tongue in Derek's mouth, eliciting a moan from the werewolf. "I can make him moan, wow!" Stiles thought. As their tongues dueled, they both kept grabbing each other, wanting to feel closer and closer to each other. As Derek pushed his groin into Stiles' leg, he could feel Derek's large erection, which made him even hornier. He pushed his own hard on against Derek's body and Derek hissed. They continued kissing until oxygen became an issue and then reluctantly pulled apart, both panting heavily.

"Wow," Derek said teasingly when he had recovered his breath, "at least we know that works." Stiles only grinned and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

Even though their kiss had been life-altering for both of them, they decided to take things slow. They wanted to get to know each other better, which of course meant for Derek that he had to let his guard down and let Stiles in. It wasn't easy at first. Derek was so used to keeping his feelings hidden, to wearing the mask of a cool, expressionless werewolf who was always in control. However, somehow Stiles succeeded in making cracks appear in Derek's mask. Slowly but surely he started opening up to Stiles, started telling him things about his past, about his family, how close he had been to his sister and his parents and how devastated he had been (and still was) when they died. How his grief and rage had kept him going for so long that he couldn't function without them anymore.

Stiles also learnt some surprising things about his new boyfriend (even though he couldn't exactly bring himself to call him that just yet), in particular that Derek wasn't exactly inexperienced when it came to men. On the one hand, Stiles was glad about at least one of them knowing what they were doing. But on the other hand, he also felt slightly embarrassed because of his own utter lack of experience. Derek was very patient though and didn't mind taking things slow. He wanted for Stiles to have all the time he needed before their relationship progressed any further. They went out on dates together and Stiles was surprised at how romantic Derek could be. As they wanted to keep their blossoming relationship under wraps for the moment, they went to dinner and to the movies in other towns, a few good miles away from Beacon Hills. There they could hold hands without raised eyebrows and their friends finding out. They enjoyed their time together and when they kissed goodnight at the end of their dates, it was getting harder and harder for them to part and not go any further. Their passionate kissing left them breathless and very aroused. Stiles loved running his hands all over Derek's muscular body when they were making out and he especially loved it when Derek responded to his touches by moaning or growling loudly. This in turn made Stiles very hard.

One night after they had come back from a romantic dinner in a little French restaurant outside of town, they were making out in Derek's car parked in front of the Hale residence. Stiles' car was parked next to Derek's so that he could drive home on his own later and avoid nosy questions from his father. Derek was nibbling at Stiles' neck, which always made him moan and he could feel his erection growing. As Derek brought his leg between Stiles' legs and rubbed up against him, Stiles screamed out "Fuck, Derek, I cannot take this any longer. Please make love to me now!" Derek gave a jerk and stopped nibbling. His eyes had turned dark with lust at Stiles' words.

But still he asked "Are you sure? I mean, are you ready?"

"I'm way past ready." Stiles grinned and took Derek's hand and put it onto his hard cock.

Derek raised an eyebrow and said teasingly "Well in that case, let me take care of you."

Stiles' breath caught in his throat and he was getting even more turned on because of the seductive promise in Derek's words. Derek opened the car door on his side, got out and opened Stiles' door for him. He dragged him towards the Hale house and up the stairs. They kept kissing while they walked so it took them a while to get to Derek's bedroom.

"Clothes off now," Derek growled. Stiles swallowed hard, Derek's bossiness turned him on so much. As he started taking off his clothes, he thought "Wow I'm really gonna have sex! And with Derek freaking Hale no less!" And as Derek slowly started kissing him all over his body, Stiles couldn't remember a time when he had been happier.


End file.
